ALL THE KINGS BASTARDS by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

 5 GOLD stars

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How I discovered this book: A favourite author.

In a Nutshell: Alternative history: what if Henry VIII had died from his jousting accident in 1536?  Book #1 of a series.

I love 'what if' discussions and stories, and alternative history generally - I've read a few novels of the genre but this is easily the best.  Gemma Lawrence has excelled herself with this vision of how 16th Century life would have played out had Henry VIII died in the jousting accident that caused a gruesome injury to his leg; in the real world, this plagued him for the rest of his life.  Anne Boleyn was pregnant at the time and Henry had recently began his courtship of Jane Seymour.  Imagine: Anne did not miscarry her baby and he didn't live to marry Jane Seymour, so Edward VI never existed.  Catherines Howard and Parr had a lucky escape - and what of Anne of Cleves?  Most importantly, of course, Anne Boleyn, brother George and various others were not executed as a result of Cromwell's dastardly plot to remove them.

...and there is so much more.  The battle for succession: Elizabeth, Henry Fitzroy, Anne's unborn child, Mary Tudor.  By the end of this book Anne has not yet given birth but already the country is in uproar, with riots and violent divisions.

Ms Lawrence's historical novels are generally told from one first person point of view, but this is totally different, with each chapter focusing on one of a variety of players.  Anne, Mary, Jane Seymour, Spanish Ambassador Chapuys, Thomas Wyatt, Fitzroy and many others.  Insight into the world of the common man is provided through the eyes of Magpye Grey, the young daughter of an innkeeper, and also Thomas Blank, a Moor who once fought alongside Magpye's father; in her notes at the back of the book Ms Lawrence provides an eye-opening insight about the population of people of colour in England in the 16th century, little of which I knew about.  Throughout, there is much more detail about the day to day life of the time, which I loved finding out about (particularly the origin of the term 'straight-laced'!).

What I admired so much about this novel is that Ms Lawrence has considered every aspect of the court and beyond - altered fortunes for Robert Aske, Margaret Douglas, Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury and the rest of the Pole family.  Will Fitzroy still die young, now he is in a different place?  The beginning of the book is fairly quiet, but the fall-out from Henry's death means that it soon gathers momentum, and it got better and better as it went on.  I think that the more you know about the history of this time, the more you will enjoy it; I kept thinking, 'oh, clever!'

Well done, Gemma Lawrence, you have mastered a new genre, and I cannot wait to read the next book!

THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII by Alison Weir

4 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book: Twitter/X

In a Nutshell: Non-fiction account of the lives of the six queens

There is no doubt that this book is an exceptionally well-researched tome, with many quotes from those who were there at the time; this gives invaluable weight to those of us fascinated by these six women.

I did detect a certain bias; Weir has little good to say about Anne Boleyn, portraying her as a woman ruled by her ambition before anything else, though she mentioned the good works which Anne undertook without fanfare.  This, to me, made some of the other assumptions about her character seem less likely.  There is, of course, no doubt that Henry VIII was an overgrown child-monster who treated every one of them appallingly at some point during their time with him, but I've always believed (perhaps naïvely, I don't know) that Anne was as in love with Henry as he was with her.

I liked Weir's thoughts about Jane Seymour, that she was not just pushed forward by her family, but had calculated ambitions of her own.  I have long thought this, that she was not the retiring innocent flower of legend.  Catherine Howard I felt got a raw deal from this book, as it concentrated on her wanton ways rather than the fact that, as a child brought up without parents and siblings, she was preyed on by older men.  However, so much that we think or think we know about these famous ladies cannot be proven, so perhaps I read it with as much bias as that with which I considered it to be written - it's hard to assess!

I enjoyed reading this book, though I admit to skip reading some of what I considered to be rather laboured detail about the various political situations, though I can understand why it was included.

It's good, but I was a little disappointed in parts.

THE KISS OF THE CONCUBINE by Judith Arnopp @JudithArnopp

 4.5 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book: One of my favourite authors, so more a matter of choosing which one I felt like reading!

In a Nutshell: The story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII

I was embarking on a long, lone train journey, so wanted a good, easy read book by an author I already knew and loved - this fitted the bill perfectly.  I know the story of Anne and Henry VIII like the back of my hand, so it was just a matter of settling in!

This view of Anne and Henry mirrors my own, and made me think, more than any other book I've read about Anne, that the periods of joy seemed so few and far between, even when Henry loved her - there was always doubt, insecurity, worry about what might lie ahead if she couldn't fulfil her promise to produce a male heir.  That her life was completely and utterly dependent on his whims.  Also, that out of the three siblings it was Mary, who had no aspirations or ambition other than to love and be loved, whose life ended the most happily.  

(Interesting: The 'Moost Happi' medal - the true face of Anne Boleyn?)

I liked very much how this is the story simply told; Ms Arnopp has resisted the need to weave in commentary about other aspects of the international or political situation, and, as in her marvellous trilogy about Henry, has written only from Anne's perspective.  It's so clever - for instance, I've always felt so sorry for Jane, George Boleyn's wife, who got such a raw deal out of life.  In this book we see her only from Anne's point of view, Anne who held a far more special place in George's heart than Jane did.  This is what I love about Judith Arnopp's writing - she never, ever falls into the trap of showing her own point of view, and is able to write solely from her character's head, even when she must surely know that the reader is screaming at the character that they've got it wrong.  To think again, to see a bigger picture, or the other person's point of view.

I especially loved the ending, which was beautifully executed, no pun intended.  From Anne's thoughts just before she died, to afterwards...

'I have seen you change from a prince into a monster.  I've witnessed every cruelty, every sin, seen each small betrayal, each moment of you, watched every discarded wife falter and fall.'

CAPTIVE OF THE KING by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

 4.5 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book: one of my favourite writers; I've been following this series.

In a Nutshell: Book 4 of a series about Lady Jane Rochford, set during the reign and downfall of Anne Boleyn.

The fall of the Boleyns is such a terrifying and sad story, and Gemma Lawrence has told it here in a most compelling fashion from the point of view of Lady Jane Rochford, George Boleyn's wife.  

Reading about the period after Anne, George and their friends had been executed, leaving Jane all alone and out of favour with just about everyone, I was struck by the way in which her whole life was lived in relation to other people.  In the notes at the back, Ms Lawrence described Jane as the watcher, just out of focus; isn't that perfect?  Jane felt that without her status as George's wife and one of Anne's senior ladies, she faded away.  The feeling I had about her was more than that, though; I noticed, throughout, that there was nothing in her life that was just for Jane.  Scarcely a book, a favoured food, a pastime, a preference.  As though it never occurred to her that what she wanted mattered.

Her childlessness must have had a huge impact on her feelings of worthlessness and invisibility; I am sure the way Ms Lawrence has portrayed her is close to the truth.  Although during the first third I felt a little frustrated by the book being more about Anne than Jane herself, told in reported and overheard conversation, I daresay that this is a good representation of Jane's life.  That only her involvement with others gave her existence any validity.  Her days were marked by events at court, even when she was not there, rather than anything that actually happened to her.

*

'There were no morals in the world anymore, just varying degrees of monster'.

...and the greatest monster of all was the King himself.  A small man who gorged himself and postured, to fill the emptiness inside.  Reading historical fiction about his reign (mostly by Ms Lawrence), I have long felt that he deeply regretted what he did to Anne and all those others who'd died on his watch, and his conscience could not deal with it.  Though he appeared to have little conscience during the dissolution of the monasteries, for his own vanity and to distribute largesse amongst those currently in favour.

I like how, in this series, Jane is given slight psychic abilities.  Nothing too outlandish, just enough to be believable. It adds another, most interesting dimension to her story - and this book certainly blows apart the myth that Jane Seymour was the most loved of Henry's wives.  I imagine the reality was that, as Jane Rochford observes, he very quickly grew tired of Seymour's pale character.  Of course, he hadn't got a clue what he really wanted, other than a son; he thought Seymour a soothing balm during his tempestuous relationship with Anne, but without the latter, the former must have been less appealing.  

'He did not care what she wanted.  He wanted her to nod and agree with him, get fat with a son and be silent.  She was not his love or equal.  She was livestock.

And though she said it not, Jane knew that.'

The notes at the end show which parts are fact, and which parts are dramatic invention.  I was fascinated to read that Jane really did write to Cromwell asking for help after George's death, and that the letter still survives!

It's a jolly good book, and I particularly liked the end fifteen per cent or so: the aftermath of the May murders, and Jane Seymour's growing realisation that she is in as much potential danger as anyone else in her husband's orbit.  I very much look forward to the next episode!

LADY PSYCHE by Gemma Lawrence

4.5 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book:  Been waiting for it!

In a Nutshell: Book #2 of The Armillary Sphere series, about Lady Jane Rochford

The weighty events of the King's 'Great Matter', ie his quest to divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, are just beginning as this part of Jane Rochford's story continues; the book takes us up to Henry's break from Rome.  

My favourite aspects of this book:

• The descriptive passages about the sweating sickness plague; it is talked about in other Tudor era books by Gemma Lawrence, but in Lady Psyche Jane tells us what it was actually like to live in a time and place when a deadly disease was rampant—a disease that was not understood, and from which few recovered.  She gives detail about how it was to live with this, on a daily basis; I was engrossed.
• The picture painted of the 'cage' Jane was in (as described by a woman she met on a visit to Bedlam); she felt invisible and probably was, to a large extent, sitting as she did on the sidelines of the Boleyn family.  So in love with her husband and longing for a child, each day being reminded of her empty womb and her husband's indifference, and being faced with the realisation that she was not of importance to anyone.  Her fears for the future, her sanity and her soul once Henry named himself Head of the Church, and her constant loneliness.  Rarely have I seen illustrated so well how bleak was the lot of women in those days.  Put simply, she had no choice in how her life was lived.
• How Jane has been given a slight and believable psychic ability, the occasional vision of the future.  I loved reading about the times when she saw what was to come but could not interpret it, and would have loved to see more, but on balance I think Ms Lawrence was wise to show this only sparsely.  

This is the fourth series by Gemma Lawrence in which the 'Great Matter' takes centre stage; it also features prominently in her series about Anne Boleyn (obviously!), Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard.  Each time it is told from a different point of view, which is clever, though I wonder if the accounts might benefit from a little pruning of detail, so that it remained, in this case, primarily Jane's story, rather than that of Anne, Henry, Wolsey, etc.  Having said that, the royal love triangle would have been the main topic of conversation for anyone in court circles at the time, Jane's fortunes were inextricably linked with Anne's, and ladies-in-waiting did not do a great deal apart from attend their mistress and take part in court gossip!  

I look forward to the next book, very much.

MISTRESS CONSTANCY by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

5 GOLD stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book: One of my favourite authors, and have been looking forward to this since I knew she was writing it.

In a Nutshell: Book 1 of The Armillary Sphere series, about Lady Jane Rochford

A terrific few days' reading!  Like Ms Lawrence, I have always felt sympathy for Jane, wife of George Boleyn—I think she had a raw deal and, though enjoying the privilege that came with noble birth, was dealt a marked card, i.e., a husband who would never consider her as he did his family or his own requirements.  Her whole life with him was like having a visitor's pass to a club she would never be allowed to join.

This first episode of The Armillary Sphere series takes us from Jane's childhood to the moment of Henry VIII's avowal to make Anne Boleyn his next queen.  Jane's view of court life is different yet again from those in Ms Lawrence's series about Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, but most interesting of all was the 'second sight' that has been given to her for the purpose of these novels—flashes of insight into a future that might be.  So clever, and so sad that she had to hide this gift for fear of being thought insane.  Jane's life seemed full of fear; the passages about her despair at George's lack of interest in her, and the way she felt empathy with Katherine's over the King's indifference, were heartbreaking; in those days, of course, women could not just walk away and find a better life.

Something I hadn't read about before that I found horribly fascinating—it's common knowledge that Katherine of Aragon wore a hair shirt, but I didn't know about the effects of such practice.  This, and the details of Katherine's fanatical religious devotion, made me wonder if she was possessed of certain psychiatric maladies that she passed on to her daughter, considering the progress of Mary's reign.  I realise that we can't judge the actions of those who lived over five hundred years ago by the standards of these days, and that they both suffered a great deal at the hands of the men who ruled their lives, but the behaviour is not dissimilar.

In this book, more than any other of Ms Lawrence's historical novels, Jane says much about how women were viewed as a subspecies completely under the control of men.  Unlike Anne and Empress Matilda, though, Jane had neither the mettle to fight against it nor the disposition to accept it, which added to her unhappiness.  I loved reading about her mixed emotions towards Anne, her accounts of their day-to-day lives—and, especially, the scenes set in Hever Castle and Penshurt Place, because I visited them two years ago, so could picture them so clearly!  There is one account of festivities held in the Baron's Hall at Penshurst, a place I found fairly mind-blowing, so that was a real treat. Also, when I read about Henry's bedroom being prepared at Hever—I have been in that room!

I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent book, and am so looking forward to reading about how Jane's relationship with her husband and his family progresses, and her part in the rise and fall of Anne.  Highly recommended!

Pictures from my trip to Hever and Penshurst HERE

THE WORM AND THE FLEDGLING by Gemma Lawrence

4 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book: a favourite author, I buy all her books.

In A Nutshell: Book #2 of a 3 book series about the life of Jane Seymour.

This second book in Gemma Lawrence's Phoenix trilogy, the story of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, covers the period from the early days of the King's affair with Anne Boleyn, and ends the day after Anne's execution.

Most of the first two thirds of the book is about the King's Great Matter, with developments being told by Jane through information given to her by others, mostly brother Edward, or through conversations that take place in her hearing.  This must have been the number one topic for discussion, argument and gossip both at court and throughout the country, and constants throughout the account are Jane's love for and loyalty towards Queen Katherine, and her deep resentment of Anne Boleyn.  Having read and loved Ms Lawrence's series about Anne Boleyn, it was interesting to read the view from the other side.  More than any other book I've read about the period, this one made me fully realise what Anne was up against.

Later on, as Henry and Anne's marriage crumbles, the King notices Jane, and their relationship begins.  This is talked about only briefly at first; I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on and actual scenes showing how their relationship began and developed, and Jane's life, generally, rather than so much about what was going on elsewhere, politically, although of course this was the backdrop for Jane's story.  However, this could just be because I've read so much about the Great Matter in books over the years!

I have always been of the belief that Jane Seymour was every bit as ambitious and calculating as Anne is thought to have been, and indeed she appears so in this book—and the Seymour family were no different from the Boleyns in the way that they pushed Jane forward. I was so glad Ms Lawrence didn't paint Jane as saintly and of great virtue.  Never having had any attention from men, the love Henry professed to feel for her became as a drug, and she had no qualms about doing to Anne Boleyn the very same thing that she'd hated her for doing to Katherine.  Worse, really; at least Anne was passionately in love with the King, though Jane seems to be motivated more by loneliness, the desire to improve her own self-image, and to triumph over a woman she hated.

The last third of the book is by far the most compelling, and I was glued to my Kindle.  Jane only once or twice considers that Anne might not be as black as she is painted, but by being an 'unreliable narrator', she gives the reader sufficient information to see her rival as would her admirers and supporters.  I was most impressed by the clever way in which this was written.

Once the trials and executions begin, the truth begins to dawn on her.  Be careful what you wish for....

As is the norm in Ms Lawrence's Tudor books, both prologue and epilogue are set as the main character faces death, which always works so well.  I thought the epilogue in this book was particularly good, a fine ending.  I am so, so looking forward to Book 3, and indeed to more of Ms Lawrence's books about Henry's wives.

NEST OF ASHES by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

 5 GOLD stars

On Amazon UK 

On Amazon.com

On Goodreads

 

How I discovered this book: One of my favourite authors, I've been dying to read this since I knew it was being written!

In a Nutshell: The early life of Jane Seymour, from childhood to her arrival at court and first meeting with Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

Loved, loved, loved this book.  Best so far this year!

I was so intrigued to see how Gemma Lawrence would portray Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, as relatively little is known about her.  Traditionally, she is the meek and mousey one, the antithesis of the charismatic, sophisticated Anne Boleyn, the biddable daughter of the proud Seymour family of Wolf Hall (Wulfhall), minimally educated (she could barely read).  Ms Lawrence has brought her to life.  In Nest of Ashes we see a timid girl, plain of face, a disappointment to her more socially adept mother, bullied by brother Thomas (who I have long thought seemed a nasty piece of work) - and the keeper of a dark, dark family secret.

One of the most well-known stories about the Seymours is that elder brother Edward's wife, Catherine, was cast out for having an affair with his, and Jane's, father, John.  Ms Lawrence writes this as having coloured Jane's whole life.

Of course, historical fiction based on fact will always contain some aspects that are purely the author's imagination, and with those about whom little is known there is more of a necessity to create events and scenarios.  Unlike her series about Anne and Elizabeth I, both of whose lives are well-documented, Nest of Ashes features much of Ms Lawrence's own creation, but it is written with such understanding of her character(s) and the era that every part of the story is completely feasible.  She sees Jane as I have always thought she was - reserved, lacking in confidence and unremarkable, yes, but with a certain harsh ambition derived from the desire to rise above those who considered her unimportant - including members of her own family.  More than this, you will have to discover for yourself when you read it (that is 'when', not 'if'!).

Alongside the story of Jane's life, in which I was completely engrossed, all the way through, Ms Lawrence gives so much detail about how the people of the time lived, with their customs and day-to-day routines ~ fascinating.  There is one chapter in which Jane visits the cottage of a 'cunning woman', which I loved.  Never does she make the mistake, as a lesser writer might, of writing Jane's reactions as though she was a woman of our time.  This book brought home to me how restricted people were by their belief in an often wrathful god who ruled all their lives.

The last part of the book describes Jane's arrival at court, and her first impressions of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, little knowing what part she will play in the life of the latter.  As the end grew nearer, I tried to read it slowly, and after I'd read the last page I actually moaned out loud because there was no more - suffice to say that I am counting the weeks until the next part is published!  

Intricate historical detail, complex family drama, love, lust, loss and intrigue - it's a terrific book.  One of my favourites by this author, and I can't recommend it too highly.

 

JUDGE THE BEST by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

5 GOLD stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book: I have read all Gemma Lawrence's historical novels and loved them, without exception.  This is the 5th and final book in the Anne Boleyn series, and I have been looking forward to it for months!  

Genre: Historical fiction from fact, Tudor period. 

Judge the Best covers the final period in Anne's life, from her first still-birth (after the birth of Elizabeth) to the bringing about of her downfall by Thomas Cromwell, and her execution.  It is a long book, I believe about 160K words, but I never felt that I was ploughing through it.  I was riveted all the way through, and felt sad when I got to the end.

So much has been written about Anne Boleyn; I have always been on the 'she was innocent and the whole thing was dreamed up by Cromwell to get rid of her because Henry wanted a new wife who might give him a son' side, and if there was any doubt in my mind, I would be completely convinced of her innocence and the sins committed against her by this book.  It has also showed me further sides to the story ~ how much of a danger to Cromwell she had become, aside from other political considerations.

'Guilt and innocence seem to be one and the same at this time.  It all depends on the King... not on evidence, confession or actual sin...just on what Henry believes.'

Anne's last moments are told by Thomas Wyatt, in which he suggests a deeper reason for Henry's wish to rid himself of her: he could not control her.   She would not behave herself, unlike the insipid Jane Seymour.  I see Anne's inability to produce a son as his all-encompassing motivation: to prove himself the strong, virile, god-like figure who could produce male heirs.  None of us knows the absolute truth, of course.  I feel that Gemma Lawrence's is the most likely, of all I have read.   After the end of the novel, she gives much evidence of Anne's innocence, and also discusses Henry's descent into tyranny, lechery and ill health—and provides a brief look at the rest of Henry's life and the unfortunate women who would be chosen to sit on Anne's throne after her, as well as the fates of the other players in the story (I've saved the 'other players' bit to read in bed, shortly!).

'..there would always remain a part of him that would doubt.  I knew it was there, in him.  That was why I would die by the sword.  Because he knew I was innocent.

Cromwell should watch that doubt, I thought.  This is the lesson he has not learned.'

Cromwell

As ever, with this series and all of this author's work, it is meticulously researched with the detail unobtrusively woven around her own words, viewpoints, and portrayal of her subject.  Never, like in many other works of historical fiction, do I feel I'm reading a text book; every event is told only through the eyes of Anne.  She shows Anne as I believe she was: a woman born before her time, who was passionate, loyal, highly intelligent, sometimes cruel, impulsive, generous, strong, dignified, reckless, considerate, deeply emotional, self-critical, and so much more.  

'Tomorrow, he will kill me, but he will become the ghost in truth; a pale imitation of the great man he could have been.  A demon set up on a throne where a godly king might have ruled.'

I am one who thinks that the idea of gods, heaven, afterlife, etc, is wishful thinking, but sometimes I wonder if there exists, somewhere, a trace of what we were; I can't help but hope this is so, when I think how delighted Anne Boleyn would be to see, nearly 500 years after her murder, how she has lived again in these books, which I recommend most highly to anyone who is interested in her.  The series is a terrific achievement, and a magnificent tribute to this most fascinating of women.

'The great irony of Henry's quest for a male heir is that it was his daughter by Anne who would go on to be remembered as the greatest monarch of the Tudor dynasty, rather than his son, or even himself.'

THE SCANDAL OF CHRISTENDOM by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

5 GOLD stars

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How I discovered this book: it was one I had been waiting for, as with all books by Gemma Lawrence!

Genre: Tudor historical fiction

'If this is Katherine's dusk, I would have everyone know it is my dawn'.

Having just finished this long book in forty-eight hours, I wonder if Gemma Lawrence knows Anne Boleyn better than anyone else who has ever written about her ~ not the facts (though this book is intricately detailed), but the understanding of the woman herself.

This fourth book in the series covers the period when the Great Matter is finally resolved (as much as it can be), when Anne becomes Queen, gives birth to Elizabeth and becomes pregnant for a second time; at the end, I wanted, as ever, to stand with a whip over the writing desk of Ms Lawrence and demand she write the next one now, and not sleep until it is done.

The beginning of the book sees the continuation of Anne and Henry's battles with Katherine and Spanish ambassador Chapuys, the Pope and all those who oppose them.  I was glad to see old rumours dispelled, such as Anne orchestrating the plot to poison Bishop Fisher, but she is not painted only in glowing colours.  Lawrence's Boleyn is far too intelligent, self-aware and analytical not to see that her frustration causes her to act in ways she regrets; indeed, she shows unseemly pride in flaunting the ermine-trimmed gowns of purple given to her by Henry (both ermine and the colour purple were to be worn only by royalty) and is sometimes spiteful, but one can hardly blame her if she sought to soil the reputation of, for instance, the King's great friend Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, who was very much against her.

'Did I stop to consider that I was spreading the same evil that had once hurt me?  I did not ... I should not have lowered myself.  Katherine would never have done as I did.'

Here, she is too harsh on herself.  Since she first won Henry's love she has had to hold her head up high in front of all who would see her downfall, until she becomes 'as used to (the tales of her wickedness) as a crumbling dotard may become to gout'.

Gemma Lawrence puts myths and Hollywoodised images about other players to bed, too; Katherine was ridiculously stubborn, and hurt her own daughter in refusing to stand down; she also hurt the very man she claimed to love so much, and the good of the realm.  Then there is Thomas More ~ the reality of this 'man of God' who tortured and burned to death those whose beliefs didn't coincide with his, couldn't be further from the kindly uncle-like figure played by Jeremy Northam in Showtime's The Tudors.

Thomas More

There is more to this book than courtly intrigue, of course.  I loved the images of the countryside of long ago:  'We rode out through glorious, crisp mornings and heard corncrakes cawing in the fields... tall oaks, elms and yews seemed to bow as our horses clopped under them ... merlins flew over moor land, chasing meadow pipits across the gorse-covered hills.'  There is much to be learned about how the Church of England was born, about rituals of christening and coronations ~ and amusing snippets showing how little the people of the 16th century knew about the human body: 'The baby is drawing on your blood to help him grow, my lady.  That is why women's courses cease when they are with child'.  

We also learn the good about Henry, and why he is still the most famous and written-about of all the kings of England.  He was not just a tyrant ~ he built up the navy to greatness, and had a way of talking to the common man as if they were friends of his, not lesser mortals, which made him so loved by his people.  

In everything I've read and watched about Anne and Henry, it seems that she had begun to lose his heart even before she failed to give him a son, for which she met her death.  I believe it is simply that he was so indulged that if someone wasn't shiny, new and exciting, it no longer held his absolute attention.  Anne is probably the most famous woman to give truth to the quote (most commonly attributed to financier James Goldsmith) 'when a man marries his mistress, he creates a vacancy'.   As soon as she is pregnant with Elizabeth, she begins to hear rumours of his other women.

'Now that I was his wife and Queen, I was vulnerable.  Before, when I had ruled him as a mistress, I had held the power.  Now, he was my master.'

Anne discovers that theirs is not this grand passion that can weather all storms, after all.  She loses her own strength, which she hates: 'It is so easy to forget ills when one is offered love again.  When a heart has known love once, it will do anything to keep it.'

This was the part of the book that really earned its 5 GOLD stars, a personal rating I don't give that often (it's one better than 5 stars!), not just for Anne's pain when she begins to see Henry through new eyes, but her love for her daughter, which is heartbreaking.  I loved my daughter more than life, more than faith, more than Henry.  If I could have held her forever and never let her go, I would have done so. There was nothing more important than her.  

Anne feels sympathy for Katherine as Elizabeth is taken from her to reside in her own household (as is normal for royal children); she comes to feel many parallels with Katherine over the following months.  Most sad, though, is that she does not see the two people who will bring about her downfall: the two Janes, Boleyn and Seymour.

Jane Seymour

This book left me wondering two things: if Katherine had stepped down, while Henry was still in his prime, might Anne have borne those sons and saved herself?  And then I wondered if Anne's life might have been so much happier if she had married, for instance, Thomas Wyatt, and lived the life of a lady of great learning and teaching, who could have given so much to others of similar mindset; a bit like a more attractive and charismatic Margaret Beaufort, perhaps!  

Gemma Lawrence never fails to write about her subjects as no one else has. This is, as I have said before, the only series about Anne Boleyn you need to read.

ABOVE ALL OTHERS by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

5 GOLD stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book:  I adore all Gemma Lawrence's books, and leap on every new one she brings out!  First discovered through our mutual interest in the Tudors, on Twitter.

'He wanted all to know that he adored me above all others'.

One of those novels that has given me that 'what on earth do I do next?' feeling, now it's finished... the third part of Ms Lawrence's series about Anne Boleyn, Above All Others is concerned with the years 1527~1530, when she and Henry have pledged their love to each other, and think it will be only a matter of months before she is his queen - only to discover what a long, tedious process the King's Great Matter would become, as they come up against the all powerful Catholic Church, and the scheming 'fat bat', Cardinal Wolsey.   But this book is so very far from tedious.

Even more than the first two books, I'd say that this episode is a work for those who already have a deep interest in Anne Boleyn and the Tudors.  It explores the theological questions of the time in great detail, and illustrates, with no stone unturned, the difficulties faced by Anne and her King with regard to the social traditions and beliefs of the time.  I know how well-versed Ms Lawrence is about her subject, and I see this book as an education, too; it explained much to me.

Gemma Lawrence's Anne has much to say about the corruption within the Church, the hypocrisy; I loved her pronouncement on Wolsey's wearing of a hair shirt, something that has often occurred to me when I see the flaunting of piety:  'It seems to me, however, that when such a thing is done, and it is made known that it is done, it loses the benefit of true and honest spirituality.  It becomes, rather, a pretence, a show designed to tell the world how very good that person is'.  

Wolsey was '...no man of God; he was a man of gold.' 

The way in which Anne's spirit progresses from the still girlish lover at the beginning of the book to the wiser woman, who realises that she must use every atom of her wit to fight her enemies and get what she wants for her and Henry, is so clever, and subtly portrayed.  It is apparent that she is the stronger of the two, though, of course, she is wise enough not to let Henry realise this. This version of the much-maligned Anne is the person I always saw her as, too ~ no means without fault, but her good intentions were genuine, and she had ambition for her people, her country, as well as for herself.  Secondary characters of her family (including the slippery Norfolk) are as vivid as Anne and Henry.  

Something I appreciated is that the author never falls into the trap of allowing Anne to think like a woman of later times; her point of view is always very much that of a far less enlightened period, when the Church controlled the behaviour of the population, and the lot of women was a frustrating one, indeed.

The novel ends just after Wolsey's death, when the coming of Cranmer and Cromwell into her circle gives Anne new hope for a solution to their problems.  

I believe this series to be the only fiction about Anne Boleyn that you need to read.  I was completely absorbed by it all the way through, and my only task now is to stand by Gemma Lawrence's desk with a threatening expression and a big stick to make sure she hurries up and gets the next book, The Scandal of Christendom, out as soon as possible!

THE LADY ANNE (Above All Others: Book Two) by Gemma Lawrence

5 out of 5 stars

Tudor historical fiction

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

I was so looking forward to this book, having adored the first in the series, and I read it over a period of two days.  It follows the period of Anne Boleyn's life between her arriving back in England after her education in France during her early and mid teens, through to her ill-fated betrothal-that-wasn't to Henry Percy of Northumberland, to her falling in love with Henry VIII and he with her, and his deciding that he will end his marriage to Katherine of Aragon so that Anne may be his queen.

I loved the portrayal of Anne as a young woman, so full of life and all that stood before her, so sophisticated and wise in some ways, yet in others a romantic idealist; she projects onto Percy the qualities she wanted the man of her dreams to possess, only to find him wanting.  I noted that she sees herself, at first, as much more practical and wise than her older sister, Mary, though in fact it is Mary who is the realist, accepting her life for what it is, whereas Anne has high and sometimes unlikely ideals.  And, of course, it was Mary who ended up with the happy life...

I enjoyed her thoughts on affairs of the heart, desire and jealousy:
'We become so blinded by jealousy that when it takes hold of us we cannot see that it is removing us still further from our goals with its malicious fingers.'
'A life with no risk taken, especially for love, is a life that is not worth living.'

I liked the first half of the book alot, but I loved the second half; I was eager to see how Ms Lawrence would portray the affair of the heart between Henry and Anne, and I was glad to see that she thinks, as I do, that Anne loved Henry as much as he loved her.  Of course there was some ambition, but in the early days it seemed that she was working alongside her father and Norfolk to achieve her goals for herself, not as a pawn used by the two scheming men.

Something else I liked: a little glimpse into the future.  I found out, via this book, how Anne's cousin and a later wife of Henry, the ill-fated Catherine Howard, ended up living in poorer circumstances; I never knew exactly how she and Anne were connected before.  As I was reading about Anne looking on her as a baby, I thought, ah, if only they knew....

Gemma Lawrence's portrayal of Anne Boleyn continues to be the most convincing, in depth and fascinating of those I have read, and I am so looking forward to the next book.  Highly recommended.


LA PETITE BOULAIN, the first book in this series, is reviewed HERE, with Amazon buy links and links to my reviews of other books by Gemma Lawrence.